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Surakarta's old manuscript exhibition highlights importance of digitization
Other than pictures, Gelar Pustaka dan Arsip 2018 (Literature and Archive Exhibition) also showcased several manuscripts and ancient books more than 100 years old.
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Inventory of ancient manuscripts is a must prior to digitizing them. (JP/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
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ozens of old photographs of cities, palaces and events from Surakarta, Central Java, were on display at Solo Paragon Mall last weekend.
Other than pictures, Gelar Pustaka dan Arsip 2018 (Literature and Archive Exhibition) also showcased several manuscripts and ancient books more than 100 years old.
Interestingly, the event also served as a launching platform for iSolo, an Android-based digital library app.
"Books in physical form are still important; this app will only ease people who are seeking references as iSolo is a library that can be accessed online," said Arie Kustanto, the general manager of PT Enam Kubuku Indonesia as the app's developer.
Arie said the public could download iSolo via Google Play, and then register and activate the app through email. After all steps are done, they will be able to access the books they want.
"We are implementing iSolo to balance the rise of information technology development. This will ease millennials in searching for references," said Surakarta Archive and Library Agency (Arpusda) head Sis Ismiyati during the launch.
Ismiyati said iSolo was a real step from Arpusda Surakarta in following the trend of gadget and internet usage. With iSolo, she said, the public could now read books that have been digitized.
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"Currently there are around 1,000 books submitted in iSolo. The number will continue to increase as we keep on digitizing the books," she said.
Ismiyati said the exhibition aimed to increase the public's reading culture; that's why it also showcased several manuscripts and ancient books that will be digitized later on.
Meanwhile, founder of the Preserving Literature Foundation (Yasri), John Paterson, said inventory and digitization of ancient manuscripts were urgently needed to ensure such manuscripts would not disappear forever.
"But prior to being digitized, we need to do the inventory steps first. Many of the ancient manuscripts are spread in regions and have not been put on record," said John.
The nonprofit foundation itself focuses on conducting inventory, maintenance and digitization. Yasri currently has thousands of ancient manuscripts, though not all have been digitized. Most of the manuscripts originate from Central Java and surrounding areas, such as works of Mangkunegara Palace and Surakarta Kasunanan poets, as well as handwritten and molded manuscripts of poetry and prose.
"All of the manuscripts are in Javanese language hanacaraka; [we] will have to transliterate it to Latin," said John. (kes)
